Linked by Fred McCann on Wed 25th Aug 2004 21:00 UTC
I recently had a bad experience with an application service provider that illustrated a growing problem with technology companies- lack of service and support. We have grown complacent as technology consumers and we allow vendors to offer very poor levels of service that wouldn't be allowed in other markets.
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I, like everyone else, have had a lot of bad customer service experiences. I can think of one time in the last few years, where I was able to get what I needed without uttering the words "Can I speak to your supervisor?"
I'm not now, but have in the past been a customer service representitive. I think companies are conditioning people to accept poor service, but it extends beyond technology companies. Companies that I know of don't give CSRs the ability to solve people's problems. In fact, I was so much as told "your job is to get people off the phone, not to solve problems." There's nothing worse than being forced to tell someone "due to company policy, we can't help you with this problem," only to have them ask for a supervisor who says "sure I can take care of that." Hey thanks for making me look like a jerk.
I agree about Open Source "support," I was trying to compile the nVidia graphics driver for the 2.6 Linux kernel, so I sent an email to them about it, figuring maybe I'd hear something in like a week. An hour later I had a response, with a fix that worked! F/OSS 4ever!